Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Security In Iraq Looked Much Worse In March 2014 Compared To February

The groups that tracked Iraqi deaths had a bit of a
divergence in March 2014. Iraq Body Count and the Iraqi government had
casualties going up, while Agence France Presse saw a large drop. The United
Nations was roughly the same as the previous months of the year. Musings On
Iraq’s own count saw a large increase to the highest level so far in 2014.
Still the majority opinion was that the security situation was getting worse in
Iraq.

The number of fatalities went in different directions in
March depending upon which group was consulted. Iraq Body Count had 1,009 killed up from 930 in February. The Iraqi
government said 1,004 people died in March compared to 790 the previous month.
Since September 2012 the government ministries have been releasing much more
realistic figures after keeping them extremely low compared to other
organizations. The United Nations counted 748
killed. That included 592 deaths in Iraq’s 17 provinces and 156 from
Anbar’s Health Directorate. In January the U.N. had 733 and 703 in February,
but those did not include Anbar. Still their numbers have stayed relatively
stable for 2014. Agence
France Presse was the anomaly from the others as it went from 991 in
January to 747 in February to 512 in March. Finally, Musings On Iraq’s own
statistics had 1,607 killed in March, the highest amount so far this year. One
major cause for deaths to go up and down are the number of major bombings.
Musings On Iraq counted the same number of car and suicide bombers 73 and 43
respectively in February and March, so that was not the case this time. Rather
the reason why there was an increase in casualties was a sharp jump in violence
in Anbar and Salahaddin. The news agencies and the Iraqi press reported 184
killed in Anbar in February compared to 343 in March. 122 of the latter were
from government shelling. Likewise in Salahaddin deaths went from 272 in
February to 368 in March. Since the start of the year those two provinces have
become some of the most insecure in the country.

Deaths In Iraq 2003-2013

Month/Year

Iraq Body Count

Avg.
Daily Deaths

Iraqi
Ministries

Avg.
Daily Deaths

United
Nations

Avg.
Daily Deaths

Agence
France Presse

Avg.
Daily Deaths

Musings
On Iraq

Avg.
Daily Deaths

2003

4,675

19.0

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

2004

11,608

31.8l

11,313

30.99

-

-

-

-

-

-

2005

16,186

44.2

15,817

43.3

-

-

-

-

-

-

2006

29,144

79.8

32,622

89.3

34,452

94.3

-

-

-

-

2007

25,519

69.9

19,155

52.4

-

-

-

-

-

-

2008

9,839

26.9

9,046

24.7

11,536

31.6

-

-

-

-

2009

5,132

14.0

3,682

10.0

4,611

12.6

-

-

-

-

2010

4,109

11.2

3,949

10.8

4,855

13.3

-

-

-

-

2011

4,147

11.3

2,781

7.6

4,150

11.3

-

-

-

-

2012

4,573

12.5

2,174

5.9

3,878

10.6

1,531

(7 mo.)

7.1

-

-

Jan. 2013

357

11.5

177

5.7

319

10.2

246

7.9

-

-

Feb.

360

12.7

136

4.8

418

14.9

220

7.8

-

-

Mar.

403

13.0

163

5.2

456

14.7

271

8.7

-

-

Apr.

545

18.1

208

6.9

712

23.7

461

15.3

-

-

May

888

28.6

681

21.9

1,045

33.7

614

19.8

-

-

Jun.

659

21.9

240

8.0

761

25.3

452

15.0

-

-

Jul.

1,145

36.9

989

31.9

1,057

34.0

875

28.2

-

-

Aug.

1,012

32.6

365

11.7

804

25.9

693

22.3

-

-

Sep.

1,221

40.7

971

32.3

979

32.6

880

29.3

-

-

Oct.

1,095

35.3

964

31.0

979

31.5

743

23.9

-

-

Nov.

903

30.1

948/1,121

31.6/

37.3

659

21.9

693

23.1

-

-

Dec.

983

31.7

1,001

32.2

759

24.4

668

21.5

-

-

2013 Totals

9,571

25.9

6,843/

7,016

18.7/

19.2

8,948

24.5

6,818

18.6

-

-

Jan. 2014

1,076

34.7

1,013

32.6

733*

23.6

991

31.9

1,495

48.2

Feb.

930

33.2

790

28.2

703*

25.1

747

26.5

1,296

46.2

Mar.

1,009

32.5

1,004

32.3

748

24.1

512

16.5

1,607

51.8

* Figures
do not include Anbar

The overall picture is that the security situation in Iraq
is deteriorating. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) is carrying
out open military parades in Anbar and Baghdad provinces. The Naqshibandi,
Ansar al-Sunna, the Islamic Army, the 1920 Revolution Brigades, Hamas Iraq, and
some tribes are all carrying out attacks as well. The Iraqi Security Forces
have proven incapable of containing these groups. That means that things will
likely get worse, and 2014 is looking like a very bad year for Iraq.

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About Me

Musings On Iraq was started in 2008 to explain the political, economic, security and cultural situation in Iraq via original articles and interviews. If you wish to contact me personally my email is: motown67@aol.com